Dubai: Four men have been accused of resisting five law enforcement officers and beating them up while they were trying to arrest them for selling alcohol in public.
Two Filipino mechanics and their two countrymen workers were said to be selling alcohol in Ras Al Khor Industrial Area when the police, who were tipped off, raided the place in December.
Two police officers walked up to a Filipino and posed as buyers, according to records, and asked for two bottles of beer, which they were selling for Dh20 a bottle.
When the Filipino turned to get the bottles from under a wooden table, the policemen identified themselves and tried to apprehend him and other bootleggers.
The bootleggers resisted arrest and absconded immediately but when a lieutenant caught up with one of them and restrained him, the latter punched him hard and ran away.
Police later combed the area and apprehended all four Filipinos, aged between 26 and 47.
Prosecutors charged them with resisting arrest and assaulting five policemen. One of the suspects, 28, was solely charged with beating a corporal and causing him injuries.
The suspects pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
A 28-year-old suspect contended before presiding judge Urfan Omar that he did nothing at all to the corporal.
When the presiding judge told him that the corporal was admitted to hospital, the 28-year-old defended that during arrest, his hand mistakenly came into contact with the corporal’s face.
The injured corporal claimed to prosecutors that five policemen were dispatched to Ras Al Khor to arrest the bootleggers.
“When we reached the area, we spotted one of the suspects selling alcohol to pedestrians. My partner and I walked towards him and posed as buyers … our other partners stayed watching from afar. I asked him for two bottles of beer and gave him Dh20 … when he tried to take out the bottles from a box inside a pickup, we identified ourselves as policemen. Suddenly he started running. I chased him and managed to grab his shirt before he turned quickly and punched me. Then he ran again, jumped inside a car that sped away. I was taken to the hospital,” the corporal testified to prosecutors.
A lieutenant claimed to prosecutors that after they combed the area, they found the car and took it to the impoundment section of Dubai Police.
“The car contained liquor boxes. Two days later, an informant tipped us off that the suspects were back in the same area … we raided the place and apprehended the four Filipinos. They resisted arrest and beat us in an attempt to flee, but we restrained them all,” he testified to prosecutors.
The trial continues.
